Enos james



(ModeL) 2She'ets--Sheet 1.

E. JAMES. Breech Loading Fire Arm.

Patented Feb. 15,1881.

N.PETERS. PHOTO LITHDGRAPNER, WASHINGTON, n. C

(Model) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E JAMES. Breech Loading Fire Arm.

No. 237,870. v Patented Feb. 15,1881.

N. PETERS. PNOTO-LITNOGRAPMER wAsHlNumN, D Q

UNITED STATES PATENT ENOS JAMES,

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No.

Application filed July 8, 1880.

237,870, dated February 15, 1881.

(Model) Patented in England October 23, 1879.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENos JAMES, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, gun-manufacturer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Small-Arms, (for which I have received Letters Patent in England, No. 4,317, dated Ootober 23, 1879,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to such breechloading small-arms as have internal or concealed hammers; and it consists of the improvements, hereinafter described, for cockin g the said hammers, and also in safety mechanism for preventing the accidental discharge of the gun.

I effect the raising of the hammers and the The lever by which the gun is cocked is fixed upon a square part of the axis described. The upper short arm of this lever engages with the bolt by which the barrels are locked down. By depressing the long external arm of this lever the bolt is drawn back and the barrels unlocked. return motion of the lever and snapping action of the bolt are produced by a spring. The hammers are mounted on cylindrical portions of the said axis, near its ends, and turn freely thereon. Each of the said hammers has a shoulder on its bush, or that part through which the axis passes. The extreme end of the axis is square, and on the said square part a collar is fitted. This collar has a shoulder, which, when the gun has been discharged and the parts are in their normal position, bears against and underneath the shoulder on the bush of the hammer. When the lever is depressed and motion given to its axis the collar on its end is moved through the same angle as the lever, and the shoulder on the said collar, acting on the shoulder on the bush of the hammer, pushes back the hammer to the -X represents an edge view of l position of full-cock, in which position itis retained by the ordinary sear and bent. When the lever rises the collar on its end returns to its normal position, leaving the hammer in its cocked position.

When I employ a lever on the tang of the break-off to cook the gun the turning aside of the said lever operates the hammer-axis, and the hammers are cooked by the action of shoulders on the axis upon the shoulders on the hammer-bushes.

y improvements in safety mechanism consist of a small bolt sliding in an oblique slot in the lock-plate. The hush of the hammer has a notch or recess in it, which, when the hammer is cooked, is opposite the end of the said bolt. By pressing the said bolt toward the axis of the hammers it is made to enter the said notch, and thereby fix the hammer and prevent the discharge of the gun. Before the gun can be discharged the said bolt has to be withdrawn from the notch in the bush of the hammer. The motion of the said bolt is effected by pressing upon the thumb-plate of the bolt.

I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the man ner in which my invention may be performed.

Figure I represents, one of the lock-plates removed,) and Fig. II, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical longitudinal section, the breech end of a dropdown gun containing my improvements. Fig. III is a plan of the body of the gun. Fig. IV is an external elevation, and Fig. V an inside elevation, of one of the lock-plates and parts of the mechanism of the gun, and Fig. VI is an edge view of the same. Fig. VII represents the cross-axis carrying the side hand-lever and hammers and other parts of the gun. Fig. VIII represents the collar. which is fixed on one end of the cross-axis. Fig. IX represents one of the hammers detached, and Fig. aportion of the side lever. .Figs. VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X are drawn full size.

The same letters of reference indicate thesame parts in the several figures of the drawin gs.

in side elevation, (WliJh a are the barrels, and b the break-off, of the gun. c is the body, and d is the cross-axis, passing through and workin gin the said body 0 near the back of the break-off. e is the side lever fitted on one end of the cross-axis d. By means of the said side lever, e, the cooking of the gun and the withdrawing of the lockingbolt f for unfastenin g the barrels are effected, a short arm, h, on the middle of the said axis (1, taking into an opening in the back end of the locking bolt f, as seen in Fig. II. A spring, g, bearing against a shoulder on the arm h, gives the snapping and the return motion to the axis (1 and parts connected to it. The extreme ends of the axis d are square. On one of the square ends of the said axis the collar or boss '5 of the hand-lever e is fitted, and on the other square end of the axis a collar or boss, 7c, (shown separately in Fig. VIII,) is fitted, as seen in the plan Fig. VII. The collar or boss 43 of the handlever e is furnished with a shoulder, i and the collar or boss 70 has a similar shoulder at k upon it. The said shoulders i k are made by cutting away a little more than half of the inner face of each collar or boss. I Z are the internal hammers of the gun, the mainsprin gs of which are, by preference, arranged in the sides of the body of the gun, as represented. The said internal hammers turn freely on cylindrical portions of the cross axis D. Each hammer is furnished with a bush, m, which works upon the axis d, and each bush m is furnished with a shoulder, at. When the gun has been discharged the shoulder m on the bush of the right-hand hammer Z bears against the shoulder 70 on the collar 70, and similarly the shoulder m on the bush of the left-hand hammer l bears against the shoulder a? on the collar or boss 6 of the hand-lever e, as illustrated in Fig. VII, so that when the said handlever is depressed, and a partial rotation given to the cross axis d, the operation of the two shoulders i k of the collars i k on the shoulders m m of the bushes of the hammers l l pushes hack the said hammers to the position of full-cock, in which position they are retained by the sears n n in the usual way. By the depressing of the hand-lever e the partial rotation of the axis 01 causes the arm h on the said axis to withdraw the locking-bolt fsimultaneously with the cocking of the hammers, in the manner described. On loosening the hand-lever e the said hand-lever e, the axis d, the cocking-collars i '1 70 70 the arm h, and bolt f are returned to their normal positions by the I action of the spring g, leaving the hammers ll ary kind,

in their cocked position, ready for the discharge of the gun. The said hammers are liberated by trigger mechanism of the ordinand I have therefore not shown the said mechanism in the drawings.

For the purpose of preventing the accidental discharge of the gunI apply to each of the lock-plates of the gun a small bolt, 12, working in an oblique slot in the said plate, as seen action to the bolt f,

in Figs. IV and VI, a thumb-plate, 12 being situated on the outside of the lock-plate. The bottom of thebolt p is furnished with a tooth, p and the bush of the hammer i has a notch or recess, l made in it. When the hammer I has been cooked the notch l is brought opposite the tooth p of the safety-bolt, and by pressing the said bolt by its thumb-plate 19 toward the axis of the hammer the said tooth enters the notch F, as illustrated in Fig. IV, and thereby fixes the hammer and prevents the accidental discharge of the gun. The notch l in'the bush of the hammer is best seen in Figs. Iand IX. Before the gun can be discharged the bolt 1) must be pressed upward, so as to withdraw its tooth p from the notch Z in the bush of the hammer or theaccidental discharge of the gun may be prevented by a safety-bolt acting on the long arm n of the sear n, as illustrated in Figs. III and V. In the said Figs. III and V, q q are the bolts or slides on the lock-plates, and q q are teeth on the ends of ths bolts, and projecting on the inner side of the lock-plates. By moving each bolt or slide q toward the muzzle end of the gun its tooth q is made to project over the sear-arm p and prevent the rising of the sear for the discharge of the gun. In Fig. III one of the safety bolts or slides, q, is represented in its withdrawn position and the sear free to rise for permitting of the discharge of the gun, while the other safety bolt or slide is represented in its position of safety and the sear prevented from rising. In Fig. V the safety bolt or slide q q is represented withdrawn from over the sear-arm.

Instead of the side lever, c, the axis 01 may be worked by a lever on the under side of the gun; or a hand-lever on the tang may be connected with the hammer-axis d, the square ends of which axis d are fitted with collars containing cocking-shoulders of the kind represented in Fig. VIII. When the hand-lever on the tang is turned aside a partial rotation is given to the hammer-axis d, and its cockingshoulders are made to cook the hammers in the manner described with respect to the gun having a side hand-lever.

Having now described the nature of my invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would observe, in conclusion, that heretofore safety-bolts of various construction have been used to lock the hammers of guns in a cooked position by engagement with the sear or with a part of the hammer, and the use of a safety-bolt, broadly, is therefore not included in this invention,.the second part of which is limited to the construction shown in Figs. I, IV, and IX of the drawings; but

I claim as my invention of improvements in breech-loading small-arms of the kind called drop-down guns- 1. The combination, in a drop-down gun,of the bolt for locking the barrels, the cross-axis, having a short arm, taking into an opening in IIO the back end of said bolt, the hammer or hamlock-plate, so as to enter, when required, a mers turning loosely on said axis, and the dehole in said bush, substantially as described. 10 vices fixed t0 the axis for cooking the hammer or hammers by engaging therewith, substan- ENDS JAMES 5 tially as described. Witnesses:

2. The combination, with a hammer having GEORGE SHAW, on the side a bush with cocking-shoulders, of RICHARD SKERRETT,

a safety-pin sliding in an oblique slot in the Both of No. 37 Temple street, Birmingham. 

